London Capital Group Holdings Share News (LCG)

Spread betting firm London Capital is enjoying the current market volatility, with the company setting new records in daily trade volumes and account opening. Reported pre-tax profits for the half year were up from £0.85m to £2.69m, while adjusted profit before tax - which excludes various charges and impairments - eased to £3.0m from £4.2m.Revenue declined by 12% to £18.34m from £20.90m in the first half of 2010. Net revenue per active client in the period rose to £807, a 15% improvement on the second half of 2010 but down 23% on the corresponding period of 2010.Total cash and cash equivalents were up £18.4m from £58.1m a yer earlier to £76.5m, while the net cash position improved to £22.5m from £14.1m at the end of June 2010, helped by the £8m raised through a share placing in March.The group increased the interim dividend by 30%, saying, "based on the performance in the first half and the net cash position of the group, the board is recommending an interim dividend of 1.3p a share (2010: 1.0p)." In a sign of returning confidence for a group that saw its share price hammered in the first quarter of the year, chairman Richard Davey said: "the group is focused on evaluating opportunities to enter new markets particularly internationally whilst ensuring we continue to develop and grow our established businesses in the UK. Speaking about the company's outlook, he added: "We remain optimistic. The recent increases in market activity have led to new records in daily trade volumes and account opening. This combined with our planned growth strategy and addition of key White Label partners in the first half means we are confident of our ability to grow." Broker finnCap said the results were in line with expectations. "The absence of any unwelcome surprises are good news in many senses, even though there are still outstanding matters such as the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] assessment to resolve," finnCap analyst Duncan Hall said.The broker's target price of 100p "implies upside from the current level but it will require continued progress in current trading and conclusion of the FOS matter to reach it," Hall acknowledged.The share price was down 0.72% to 69.00 at 12:06. NR